Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) is excited to announce the launch of a new group for restaurant chain founders that will debut at CREATE: The Event for Emerging Restaurateurs, held this Oct. 8-11 in Nashville, Tenn.
The Founders Nest — part of NRN parent Informa Connect Foodservice’s broader Nest platform — will offer founders of restaurant chains an opportunity to regularly engage with their peers and access exclusive events throughout the year.
“Restaurant founders have the seemingly impossible job of starting a business from scratch and then navigating myriad challenges as they scale,” said Sam Oches, NRN’s editor-in-chief. “It’s exhausting work that is made a lot easier with the support of their peers. We’re excited to launch a Founders Nest that gives entrepreneurs that critical support network, and to launch it at CREATE, which has resonated deeply with this community.”
“We have an obligation to help the restaurant industry succeed by creating a platform for operators to network and ultimately find viable solutions and partnerships,” said Mark Hatch, vice president of trade relations for Informa Connect Foodservice and head of the Nest platform. “We’ve had great success in offering that opportunity to members of chain C-suites, and now are excited to provide that same opportunity to brand founders.”
The Nest is a group of top restaurant chain executives in identical roles (CEOs, CMOs, CIOs, CFOs, COOs, etc.) taking on the industry’s most pressing challenges collectively. Each Nest is made up of 20-35 members who meet virtually once a month for an hour and in-person at Informa events (CREATE, Restaurant Leadership Conference, FSTEC, and The National Restaurant Association Show).
Nest meetings are typically restaurant executives only; all discussions are off the record and the format is a round-table discussion where each participant can openly share their struggles and successes and ask questions of their peers. To date, hundreds of restaurant professionals are involved in eight Nest groups. In addition to the Founders Nest, Informa Connect Foodservice is launching Nests for culinary and HR professionals.
Interested in joining the Founders Nest? Email Oches at [email protected] for more details.
